The Passerby Female Supporting Character – Chapter 8
by Little PandaI Am Zhang San
She replied indifferently, turning her head away with unreadable emotions. Song Linlin didn’t think much of it – since she didn’t want to go out, she would just go alone.
“Alright, I’ll try to return early. Once I leave, no one should come in to disturb you.”
Song Linlin gathered her things for going out, walked through the door, gently closed it for Chi Qianning, then bounded downstairs with light, happy steps.
Chi Qianning’s hearing surpassed ordinary people’s capabilities. She naturally heard how quickly the other had left after exiting the door. Her gaze fixed on the window, where she could see three young women walking side by side.
One of the three was particularly active, looking around everywhere as if curious about everything. Occasionally she would linger too long in one spot, only to be called back by the other two before hurrying to catch up with her companions.
Finally, all three figures disappeared around the alley corner.
Those red eyes just quietly watched through the window, only withdrawing their gaze after the figures vanished.
Chi Qianning felt an inexplicable surge of irritation, her wild instincts sensing that prey that should have been within her grasp had escaped again.
Meanwhile, Song Linlin walked together with Ye Tingran and Zhiyu, not yet having personally experienced the local customs and practices. Though they were going to catch their target, their route would take them through a long stretch of bustling market street.
The urban civilian life in this world was more colorful than Song Linlin had imagined. Though it lacked high technology, both commerce and handicrafts were exceptionally prosperous.
Walking among various merchants, she saw many curious trinkets along the way. Though Yuanqing City wasn’t a large town, the items here still opened Song Linlin’s eyes.
Because of cultivation, major sects and cultivation family clans divided their territories, accepting tributes from their respective regions. The sects would dispatch people to guard these areas, ensuring their safety and resolving cases involving cultivators.
This sect training mission involved investigating over ten disappearance cases that had occurred in this town within two months, including the tragic massacre of an entire household of more than ten people.
Song Linlin and her companions needed to investigate who committed these bloody incidents and execute justice on the spot.
The three traversed various streets and alleys, finally arriving at a less crowded alley, stopping before a shop’s entrance.
Ye Tingran and Zhiyu exchanged glances. The shop was still open, and they could vaguely see the proprietor inside.
Ye Tingran nodded to the other two, speaking softly: “When we enter, don’t act hastily. Though there aren’t many people here, we must be careful of his possible accomplices.”
“We’ll lure him to an empty place. If he confesses voluntarily, that would be ideal. If he’s not willing to talk, then we’ll take action.”
“Let’s go in.”
After speaking, Ye Tingran took the lead, bringing the other two into the shop.
Inside, besides the shopkeeper and several assistants, there were also a few customers.
Upon seeing the three newcomers – dressed in clean, simple clothes, long swords at their waists, and bearing extraordinary demeanor – the customers immediately stepped aside.
These three were obviously cultivators, and ordinary mortals dared not provoke them, not even daring to look twice, fearing they might accidentally anger them.
The shopkeeper was a man who appeared to be in his twenties. Despite his young age, he owned a sizeable medicine shop, selling medicinal herbs and simple efficacy pills [ไธน่ฅ | dฤn yร o | cultivation medicine]. These pills meant little to Foundation Establishment practitioners like Song Linlin, having minimal effect.
However, to ordinary people who hadn’t even touched the threshold of Qi Refining, these were precious “luxury items.” For someone so young to own such a shop, there must be powerful backing behind him.
Previously, Ye Tingran hadn’t thoroughly investigated this man’s background, but now thinking carefully, something felt off about him.
The shopkeeper, named Mu Tong [็ง้ | mรน tลng], who had been sitting behind the counter, immediately stood up upon seeing Ye Tingran arrive, greeting them with a smile, “If it isn’t Young Miss Ye and Young Miss Zhiyu! Please, come in quickly. My apologies for not greeting you sooner.”
He looked at the unfamiliar Song Linlin, “Uh… and this is?”
“My shimei,” Ye Tingran replied simply.
“Oh, oh, good.”
Since they didn’t explicitly state her name, Mu Tong was smart enough not to pursue it. He looked at the three and continued: “Having such distinguished guests truly brings glory to my humble shop! May I ask what brings you here today?”
Zhiyu stepped forward, wearing an elegant light cyan robe, lightly made up, with her naturally gentle and serene temperament, like a blue lotus [้่ฎ | qฤซng liรกn | metaphor for pure beauty] blooming by a lake. She maintained her usual gentle tone, speaking unhurriedly:
“Shopkeeper Mu, I happened to hear you have some phantom grass. Is this true?”
Phantom grass was a fine pill-refining material, with limited production and consequently not inexpensive, and this medicine shop happened to have some.
For a medicine shop, such materials would certainly be kept in the storehouse for safekeeping, preventing them from being seized by other cultivators.
This information had come to Zhiyu’s attention by chance, and few people actually knew about it.
Mu Tong nodded, “Indeed, I do have some phantom grass here.”
“Excellent. Shopkeeper Mu, would you be willing to sell me one stalk of phantom grass? I discovered this morning while refining pills that I was short one stalk.”
“And in Yuanqing City, only Shopkeeper Mu’s medicine shop has this material.”
Zhiyu spoke with a smile that was like a spring breeze, and the shop assistant, upon hearing this, instinctively turned to retrieve a stalk of phantom grass from the storehouse, only to realize the shopkeeper hadn’t spoken yet, and retreated back.
Standing behind Zhiyu, Song Linlin couldn’t help but mentally applaud her – the phantom grass would certainly be in the storehouse. Luring Mu Tong there would avoid the crowd outside, creating an ideal environment to make their move.
However, Mu Tong didn’t agree immediately after hearing this. He usually kept those few stalks of phantom grass hidden in the storehouse like treasures. If anyone else had asked, he would have definitely claimed not to have any.
But looking at Zhiyu, he found it difficult to refuse. Finally, gritting his teeth, he turned to instruct his subordinate: “You, go fetch a stalk of phantom grass for Young Miss Zhiyu.”
“Please wait a moment, Young Miss Zhiyu. Selling you one stalk is certainly no problem,” Mu Tong turned back to reply.
Just as the subordinate was about to move, Zhiyu called out to stop him: “Wait.”
After both men turned to look at her with questioning gazes, Zhiyu explained: “Shopkeeper Mu, as you know, some dan pills have specific requirements for the age and quality of materials. So might I trouble you to take us to the storehouse to select a stalk of phantom grass?”
Since Mu Tong had already decided to sell one to her, he naturally started to agree, “Of course…”
But as the words left his mouth, he suddenly sensed something amiss – why would three people need to go look at one stalk of phantom grass?
Moreover, these three were obviously from a sect. In this small Yuanqing City, phantom grass might be rare, but sects had access to even rarer materials.
With some effort to accumulate contributions [่ฒข็ป | gรฒng xiร n | merit points], one could naturally exchange for phantom grass.
Mu Tong’s words halted abruptly. He took an imperceptible step backward, smiling as he said: “I trust Young Miss Zhiyu’s character. Having Xiao Wu escort you should suffice.”
Xiao Wu was the one who had been about to fetch the materials. Hearing the shopkeeper’s words, he seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the honor, as assistants like them rarely had the chance to even approach phantom grass.
Zhiyu’s expression remained unchanged, but Song Linlin’s heart skipped a beat, her eyes secretly glancing toward Ye Tingran.
This fellow hadn’t taken the bait – what should they do now?
Surely they couldn’t openly and without reason make their move in a shop full of ordinary people?
Ye Tingran noticed Song Linlin watching her from the corner of her eye, though she maintained an outwardly calm appearance. In reality, her hand position had subtly shifted, ready to draw her sword at any moment.
Zhiyu didn’t persist in asking Mu Tong to accompany her – he had already refused, and if she kept insisting on this point, it would seem too suspicious.
He might try to escape the next second.
She smiled lightly and said: “Since Shopkeeper Mu trusts my character, I’ll go with Xiao Wu to the storehouse to make my selection.”
This statement was cleverly phrased – since you trust me, a cultivator, to go with a mortal to fetch rare materials, I’ll trust you by going to your storehouse alone.
In reality, this left Ye Tingran and Song Linlin behind to monitor Mu Tong, preventing his escape.
As Zhiyu and Xiao Wu walked toward the back of the medicine shop, Mu Tong looked at the remaining two people, feeling the atmosphere grow subtle.
He certainly wanted to escape, but Ye Tingran’s gaze remained fixed on him, clearly watching his every move.
He could only force a smile at Ye Tingran, “Young Miss Ye, please sit. You two can wait here for Young Miss Zhiyu’s return.”
The three remained silent, Ye Tingran and Song Linlin sitting quietly while Mu Tong stood not far away. Though appearing peaceful, each harbored their own schemes.
After quite a while, Zhiyu finally emerged from the depths of the medicine shop, with Xiao Wu beside her carrying a wooden box containing a stalk of phantom grass.
Seeing Zhiyu return, Mu Tong finally relaxed somewhat, now only wanting these three to pay and leave quickly.
Looking at the box, Song Linlin had a sudden inspiration, thinking of a way to make things appear less forced.
She approached Zhiyu, smiling: “Zhiyu-shijie, may I also take a look at this stalk of phantom grass?”
While saying this, Song Linlin had already taken the wooden box from Xiao Wu’s hands. This box wasn’t made from ordinary wood – it could preserve medicinal potency and prevent the spiritual energy within the herbs from dissipating too quickly.
“Of course you may,” Zhiyu didn’t refuse.
Song Linlin opened the box, examining the plant inside. Having inherited her predecessor’s memories, she could naturally tell at a glance this was a phantom grass of decent quality.
“Ladies, since you have the phantom grass now, shall we proceed with payment?” Mu Tong clearly didn’t want to spend more time with these three, just wanting Zhiyu to pay and leave.
Just as Zhiyu was about to speak, Song Linlin held her back, “Eh! Wait a moment, Zhiyu-shijie!”
Everyone nearby turned to look at Song Linlin. Both Zhiyu and Ye Tingran couldn’t understand what she was thinking, their faces showing confusion.
Mu Tong frowned, asking puzzled: “Young miss, what’s wrong?”
“Shopkeeper Mu…” Song Linlin deliberately raised her voice, ensuring everyone in the shop could hear, “Could this phantom grass be fake? This is clearly a stalk of ghost grasS!”
These words immediately drew everyone’s attention, even those ordinary people who hadn’t dared look their way before turned their heads to secretly observe.
Phantom grass and ghost grass differed by just one character, but their prices varied enormously. The former was a rare material, while the latter could be found on any mountain with a bit of luck, being among the most common medicinal herbs.
Moreover, these two herbs looked very similar, and there had been precedents of unscrupulous medicine vendors disguising ghost grass as phantom grass.
Mu Tong’s medicine shop was well-known in Yuanqing City, so this accusation of selling fake medicines naturally shocked everyone.
Whispers gradually spread around, causing Mu Tong’s expression to darken. He put on a stern face and said seriously: “Young miss, you can’t make such reckless claims! I, Mu Tong, have run this medicine shop in Yuanqing City for three years and have never sold fake medicines.”
“Is that so?” Song Linlin wouldn’t yield, continuing loudly: “That’s only because other medicines are harder to fake. Your skills are just enough to fool someone like Young Miss Zhiyu who doesn’t know medicinal herbs!”
She crossed her arms, slightly raising her chin with an air of complete confidence, letting out a light snort. “Do you know who I am?”
“You… could it be…”
Mu Tong, caught off guard by her counter-question, lost some of his momentum. His mind raced, analyzing the current situation:
This person looked only in her teens, clearly a novice just starting out. Her appearance couldn’t compare to the other two, and she didn’t look particularly formidable.
Rather, Zhiyu appeared like a young lady from a wealthy family, while Ye Tingran looked like someone destined for greatness, heaven’s favored daughter might as well have been written on her face!
As for this one…
Mu Tong scrutinized her several times, killing off brain cells, but still couldn’t find anything exceptional about her.
Yet that confident expression didn’t seem fake.
After hesitating for a long time, he finally couldn’t help but ask: “Who are you?”
“Heh!” Song Linlin let out a mocking laugh, taking on the appearance of someone looking for trouble. “Listen well! I am the 189th generation inner disciple of Medicine King Valley, disciple of Venerable Chenxin, composing poetry at three, identifying all medicinal herbs at eight, capable of refining fourth-grade dans at fourteen.”
“You ask who I am? Listen well – my name stands unchanged, my surname remains the same. I am Zhang San of Medicine King Valley!”
Ye Tingran: ……
Zhiyu: ……
Mu Tong: ???
These words caused an immediate stir, with the audience’s discussion growing louder.
“Wow, sounds amazing!”
“Isn’t Medicine King Valley that famous dan-refining sect?”
“This Zhang San, so young and ordinary-looking, who knew they had such ability!”
“How terrifying!”
……
Song Linlin let out a cold laugh, approaching Mu Tong with the box of phantom grass, demanding: “What do you have to say for yourself? This is clearly ghost grass!”
She positioned herself strategically, her body half-blocking others’ view of Mu Tong. Before he could react, she grabbed his wrist and suddenly cried out, throwing herself to the side.
“Ah!”
Song Linlin fell to the ground, and as she moved away, Mu Tong was revealed standing with his hand raised.
“Cough, cough…” Song Linlin weakly coughed twice, lying on the ground shouting: “Heaven help us! When his fake medicine was exposed, he became angry and attacked me!”
Ye Tingran immediately understood her intention, letting out a cold snort: “Shameless merchant! Not only do you sell fake medicine, but you dare sneak attack Zhang San-shimei. Today I shall carry out heaven’s justice and apprehend you!”
As the sword was drawn, the scene descended into complete chaos.
Feeling the 2nd hand embarrassment hahaha
White lotus girl. But on our side
True that
Bwahaha!